Evizda

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani easily won his bid for a second term in Friday’s election, securing 57 percent of the vote in a victory over his main challenger, the conservative Ebrahim Raisi.

Raisi, who secured 38 percent of the vote, is “one of four judges who sentenced thousands of political prisoners to death in the 1980s, regarded by reformers as a symbol of the security state at its most fearsome,” Reuters writes. 

Voter turnout was strong; over 40 million—roughly 70 percent of those eligible—turned up at the polls.

“Our nation’s message in the election was clear: Iran’s nation chose the path of interaction with the world, away from violence and extremism,” Rouhani, a key figure behind the historic U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, said in a post-win televised speech.

The New York Times writes: “Despite the healthy margin of victory, Mr. Rouhani, 68, will face considerable headwinds, both at home and abroad, as he embarks on his second term. He badly needs to demonstrate progress on overhauling the moribund economy.”

According to Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, the more moderate “Rouhani’s convincing win is a sharp rebuke to Iran’s unelected institutions that were a significant brake on progress during Rouhani’s first term. It is also a rebuke of Washington hawks who openly called for either a boycott of the vote or for the hardline candidate Ebrahim Raisi to win in order to hasten a confrontation.”